Quick Kindle Review - a TEN STRIKE

I'm trying out an AMAZON KINDLE.  Love it. 

It's clearly designed by people who READ.  Delightful to read the newspaper, magazines, books, your own documents.  You can read for hours comfortably.  In fact, I believe that in many scenarios, I'd PREFER this, yes you read that right, I'd prefer the KINDLE to a real book or magazine.   That surprises me, even though I was looking for the convenience of an ebook reader (dozens or hundreds of titles), I always expected to say, "of course the paper book is a better reading experience."  That may be changing.  This not only rivals the paper experience, it surpasses it in many ways. It's EASIER to hold than a hardback, easier to turn pages with one hand than a paperback or newspaper, and that's all before the extra features.

Extra features that books don't have:  The New Oxford American Dictionary lookup is well integrated. One click gives you the line of text you're reading with all the key words neatly defined at once.  Seamless link to Amazon that allows you to download free samples of titles in the KINDLE STORE (90,000 including most best sellers - no Harry Potter unfortunately).  A few magazines and newspapers are available - all with two week free trial.  All delightfully easy on the eyes.  Then there's a rudimentary web browser so you can read free newspaper sites et al, but not designed for heavy web surfing. Or email. NOW I THINK THIS IS ACTUALLY A PLUS in a way - who needs all those distractions when you're lost in a book or lengthy article. 

Virtual reference - an experimental feature I like.  While reading Armageddon's Children, I wanted to know which was further south, Cleveland or Chicago. Within a few minutes I got the answer from NowNow. In fact, I got three replies, and all had the same final answer. Two cited wikipedia and one cited a better geographical source. I was delighted. I asked this late in the evening, mind you, and got the answer back right away - all without ever having to touch a computer.

I'm sure people who are gadget oriented will decry the obvious missing features - no touch screen, no backlight etc.  You know, if those are the tradeoffs to get that outstanding reading screen, it's worth it. It's a pleasure on the eyes. It doesn't get hot or need a recharge every couple of hours like a computer does.  It's just the right size, if you use the smallest font. It may be frustrating for folks who choose the largest font and need to turn the page every couple of paragraphs. Still, a nice feature to be able to make the font bigger if you need it.

Yes, I know about the DRM and privacy complaints, and I hear you. But you don't have to use Amazon as your source of content. I've emailed myself open documents that I want to read (10 cents a document). I've also gone to manybooks.net to get a bunch of mobipocket (or .txt) titles for free and transferred by cable - free. No tracking of my reading there. Couldn't get the SD card to work right yet, but that's supposed to work too.  I also tried to use the clunky Kindle web browser to download directly from manybooks.net - without success.

What I would like, though, is better picture quality. And more pictures/diagrams that somehow get lost on their way from print to KINDLE e.g. in the San Jose Mercury News. Color would be nice, if it had that same high quality resolution. I'd also like to be able to type a password before making purchases from the KINDLE store. Yes, there's no password needed right now. Anyone who gets their hands on someone else's KINDLE can wreak all kinds of havoc with the account. I requested a password option from customer service, and it's on their list of suggestions.

Bottom line: Very expensive, but a pleasure to read real books, magazines, documents on a portable device.

Comments

[Johnssius]

I ordered my Kindle a couple of days ago and I can't just wait it to arrive. And reading this post makes me think that I have made a great choice. And... There's no place to any more bookshelves on my tiny appartment... :D

[Mary]

Yes, I can. I can completely affirm that it's MORE comfortable to read the Kindle in bed (on my side, on my back, whatever), than a hardcover or even paperback book. Also better than newspaper, though you lose the comics, ads and lots of the pictures. Only time I think I'd rather have the paper newspaper is when I have the luxury of spreading it out on a table while I drink tea. Otherwise, the Kindle is better for reading the newspaper too.

[Kerry Z]

Can you simply rest the left underside of the Kindle against the lower inside palm of the left hand? Like you might the spine of a well-worn hardback?

The rubberized bottom seems to support this method.

But this obvious holding position seems to escape every "gadget" reviewer I've seen pick up a Kindle. They grasp in on both sides around the edges, as if it weighed a great deal, or they were trying to get leverage for thumb typing, or were excessively fearful of dropping it.

I often read with my fingers, so I'd intend to have left hand underside, and follow the lead of my right hand, on pages at minimum font size -- occasionally resting my right hand on the unit if needed to stabilize it.

Who grasps books by both sides and holds them up level to your face? Sheesh.

[Mary M]

Okay, part addiction. But days later, my enthusiasm is unabated. I can read my students' final papers (due today) on the KINDLE without printing them out.

I can bring their papers with me when I go out, along with Candide (great book), and dozens of other titles and documents I've now stuffed the thing with.

As for paid content: I suspended my two daily newspapers a few days ago, and already notice my recycle pile is way smaller. The newspapers and a couple of mainstream magazines are the only items I plan to purchase at this point (when the free trials run out). I don't keep those anyway, and they're not something that would flag the FBI as to my inner thoughts.

The newspapers and magazines cost less than the dead trees version, and the savings will pay for the cost of the KINDLE in about 5000 years.

Free trials are addicting, absolutely. I read today's Irish Times last night, and was able to understand it better than I did when I was in Ireland. That's because it's so ridiculously easy to look up words I don't know, like "Taoiseach." And the free chapters are hard to resist from the 90,000 books. But I'll mainly stick with free stuff from Project Gutenberg et al. and borrow new books from the library.

Ohhh . . . you make my heart ache . . . .

". . . but a pleasure to read real books, magazines, documents on a portable device."

If you are reading them on a device, they are not real. And as if books and magazines weren't portable . . .

It's an addiction. Pure and simple.